Connaught, Ireland

Long before she ever knew it existed, Alison was dreaming of visiting Connaught. Throughout university, a poster of a beautiful castle hung on her wall. It wasn’t until many years later she discovered the poster’s subject was actually Kylemore Abbey, in Ireland. Since making that discovery, she’s dreamed of seeing it in person.

During our week-long road-trip around Ireland, we made that visit a priority. It was the final stop on our journey and we had truly saved the best for last. The abbey and the landscape surrounding it, is even more breath taking in person.

When I was in university, I had a poster on my wall of a beautiful castle. It was built of pale grey stone and had turrets and arched windows. It was perched on the edge of a lake and was surrounded by forest. I didn’t know what it was called or where it was located but, for my young self, it represented all that was wild and romantic about travel. I longed to visit it someday.

It wasn’t until many years later, I learned my dream castle was actually Kylemore Abbey, located in the stunning mountains of Connemara, Ireland. At that time, it wasn’t open to the public and I believed I would never get to see my poster castle in person.